A Mother's Love
by Snavej
Summary: One day in the SPR office, Mai is extremely bored. That is, until someone completely unexpected turns up and things don't turn out as peachy as they seem! (I might edit this...)
1. Chapter 1

A mid-October morning found a 20 year old Mai Taniyama sat in the SPR office. It was obvious to anyone nearby that she was bored. Secretly, she longed to hear her boss yelling for tea, just so she would have something – _anything_ – to do.

Mai watched the clock on the wall by the door. She would have sworn on her life that it had slowed down. The second hand seemed to be dragging around the face so lazily Mai wondered if the batteries were dying. Unfortunately, the time matched that on her mobile.

Sighing dramatically, Mai stood up. She would go and offer her boss some tea. Even if he refused that would waste a whole minute, wouldn't it?

"Naru?" She called through his office door as she knocked.

"Come in." Her boss replied. Mai opened the door and stuck her head in.

"Would you like some tea?" She asked, trying to keep the note of boredom out of her voice.

"No." He said. Oliver Davis was reading a stapled document that Mai would have guessed was in English. She thought he looked as bored as she felt. As she left, she closed the door and offered Lin tea. He also refused.

Mai decided to make some tea for herself despite not really wanting any. How could it only be 10 o'clock? Surely it had to be almost time to shut up shop and go home? She briefly considered texting of the SPR regulars to come in, before remembering they were all busy. Madoka was in England, Ayako and Monk were still on their honeymoon, Yasuhara was at university, Masako was away filming and John was in Australia visiting his family. At least Madoka would be back the following weekend, and then she would have someone to talk to.

While turning the kettle on and pulling out a mug, Mai heard the office door open. A potential case? She set the mug down on the side and left the kitchen. A small woman was standing in the doorway. She was a little taller than Mai, with black hair and sad brown eyes. Mai judged her to be reasonably well dressed but she couldn't help but think something was off about the woman. Shrugging this thought aside, Mai smiled widely at the customer.

"Hello, may I help you?" She said politely and bowed deeply towards the woman.

"My name is Kimi Yoneda. I am looking for Oliver Davis." She said in a quiet voice. Mai was startled; no one in Japan – apart from a few select individuals – knew that Mai's boss was really Oliver Davis, a famous English paranormal researcher and PK user. Officially her boss was Kazuya Shibuya. Behind Mai, Lin stood up from his desk.

"And why do you think he would be here?" Lin said lowly, the hint of a threat present.

"I am his birth mother."


	2. Chapter 2

Mai felt her jaw drop. She and Lin stood staring at the woman for a full minute before Lin recovered.

"Yoneda-san, please take a seat." He gestured to the sofa. "Mai, please retrieve our boss."

Mai obeyed at once, she almost ran to her Oliver's office and knocked hastily.

"What now?" He said tersely. Mai opened the door, entered and closed it behind her.

"We have a guest." She said nervously. "You should talk to her."

"Can't you take the details? I am busy here."

Mai ignored his tone.

"She claims to be your birth mother." She stated.

Whatever Oliver had expected her to say, that was not it. Mai saw his eyes widen a fraction in shock, but he recovered his blank facial expression a second later. He stood up and Mai held the door open for him, he left his office without thanking Mai.

"I'll make tea." She said to the room at large and ran into the kitchen. She could just hear what was being said. Mai knew Oliver would be sat in the lone chair with Lin standing behind him, staring at the woman with a gaze that would pierce armour.

"Who are you?" Oliver asked coldly.

"Kimi Yoneda." The woman said, she sounded close to tears. "Are you Oliver Davis?"

"Why would you think that?"

"A little over 21 years ago on the 19th September, I gave birth to twins after an affair with the American ambassador. I followed him to America and for a while he paid for me to live so that I wouldn't tell his wife about the affair." She sighed. Mai could hear the forced toughness in her voice. "Then when he divorced his wife for her own infidelity, he refused to pay my living costs anymore. He took my babies to an orphanage, they were only four years old then, and he deported me back to Japan. My family had disowned me. I had nothing. I spent a long time on the streets before I finally found a job. I have spent the last ten years trying to find my babies." Mai brought in the tray of tea, but no one took a cup.

"You have not answered my question." Oliver said, with no hint of emotion.

"I eventually found out they were adopted by an English couple. It was hard. My English is poor and I did not know which orphanage they were placed into and with no proof of my blood relation to them… I had to pay a private investigator to find out that they were adopted by Professor Martin Davies and his wife Luella." Mai noted how the woman struggled with the 'l' sound. Oliver and Lin gave no hint of recognition at the names. "I tried to contact them for years with no avail. Finding their personal contact details was near impossible and nothing I sent to their workplaces seem to reach them." A silent tear ran down her face. "Then I heard they lost a son. That Eugene Davis had died while in Japan. I got hold of an English newspaper where the funeral was reported; it had a small picture of the family." She frantically pulled the clipping out of her handbag and placed it on the table. Mai could not read the English, but recognised Oliver and his adopted parents dressed in black in the photo. "I tried to contact BSPR, where Professor Martin Davies worked with his son or so the newspaper said. They told me that Oliver Davis was away on business. I tried many times, but every time the response was the same and no one would tell me anything more than that. It was by luck that I found another picture of you. This time in a local Shibuya newspaper reporting something about a car crash near here. You were in the photo in the background." She pulled out another clipping. Mai could see a black haired man dressed in black in the shadows of the photograph. She guessed it could be Oliver. "I knew it was you. I searched the business directory and found Shibuya Psychic Research. It couldn't be a coincidence. The director was called Kazuya Shibuya. Kazuya and Ichiya were the names of my babies." She started crying in earnest now and Mai noticed that she was wearing black leather gloves. The office was not cold, why had she not taken them off?

"I see." Oliver said, interrupting Mai's thoughts. He could not deny the man in the first photo was him, nor could he deny that he had used his original Japanese given name upon returning to Japan, it had made sense at the time as it was a name he would respond to without conscious effort. "What exactly do you want from me Yoneda-san?" Mai turned to stare pointedly at her boss. She thought he was being a little harsh.

"Are you my baby?" Yoneda-san sobbed. "I just want to find my babies."

"If you are content that you have found them, then please leave." He stood up and returned to his office, closing the door behind him. Lin did not move; he was still staring at the woman as if trying to memorise her face. However Mai stood up abruptly.

"I am sorry for my boss' behaviour, he's rude to everyone. I will go and speak to him." She said to Yoneda-san.

"Mai…" Lin warned, but Mai ignored him and stormed into Oliver's office.

"What the hell was that?" She shouted at the man behind the desk. "That was your mother!"

"It seems so." He said quietly, he was not facing her, but out of his window.

"You do not speak to your mother like that!" Mai continued. "Go and apologise and talk to her! She has not seen you since you were four! You cannot treat her like that!"

"That woman may have given birth to me but she is not my mother." Oliver said, still quiet compared to Mai's shout. "I have a mother who is currently in England; I have no want of another one."

"You bastard!" Mai was furious. "Do you not understand how lucky you are? How many orphans dream of meeting their parents? Here you are with the chance and instead you are busy hurting the poor woman's feelings!"

"And what about my feelings?" Oliver turned to face her, cold fury masking his usually handsome features. Mai was taken aback. "Take her contact details and escort her out. Now." He turned away again. Mai left his office, trembling somewhat.

"I hope I did not get you into trouble." Yoneda-san said sounding genuinely worried, she had stopped crying now. "I should leave."

"Don't worry about me; may I take your details?" Mai said, forcing herself to remain calm. "It is a lot for him to take in, he may need some time but if I can take your details he can contact you when he's ready…" She trailed off rather pathetically. Lin produced a pen and some paper and Yoneda-san wrote down her phone number and current address, which was a little way out of the city.

"Thank you." Yoneda-san said; a small smile spread across her lips. "I am glad my son has such kind people around him."

"Here, phone me if you have need of anything." Mai said, handing Yoneda-san a piece of paper with her own phone number on it.

"Thank you, I'm sorry, I did not catch your name?"

"Mai Taniyama."

"Thank you Taniyama-san." She left and Mai looked around at Lin. He looked very worried.

"Are you okay Lin?"

"I should check on Oliver." He said, frowning.

"I wouldn't. He admitted he had feelings a few minutes ago. I'd give him some time." Mai sighed and returned to her desk. The day was no longer boring, that was for sure. She thought back to the woman's appearance. Mai guessed she did sort of look like her boss, they had the same hair colour and face shape. Then, with a sudden realisation, she turned her computer on and brought up a search engine.

**American ambassadors for japan**

Her search brought up a list of the current and previous ambassadors. Mai flicked through them until she found the man who held the job 21 years ago. He was obviously of Japanese descent, although his profile said he born in America. The picture also showed a pair of beautiful blue eyes, Oliver's eyes. Mai read down the details of the man and was saddened to read that he had died of a heart attack a few years ago, believed to be stress induced.

"Mai, give me that piece of paper." Oliver said from the doorway of his office. He sounded tired. Mai jumped up and handed him the paper with Yoneda-san's contact details. He looked at it for a moment.

"Romanise it." He said, handing it back. Mai took it and grabbed a pencil off her desk. She quickly translated the kanji into hiragana and then the Latin alphabet underneath that. Mai could remember that much from her school English lessons. She handed it back. "Thank you." Oliver said, then turned into his office. "You can have the rest of the day off." He said before closing his door.

Mai stared at the door, shocked. Her boss had not only apologised but also let her off early, something that had never happened before.

"Lin, keep an eye on him won't you?" Mai said as she put her coat on, she was worried by how much his behaviour had changed.

"That is why I am here Mai." Lin said, giving her a reassuring smile. "He'll be okay."

"I hope so." She turned off her computer and left the office quickly, before Oliver changed his mind.

**Author's note: So I am not as confident about this story as my last fic, but I will give it a go! I can't promise to update as frequently as I did with my last fic, but I will try to be relatively quick! Please review because it makes me happy!**


	3. Chapter 3

Nothing was said about the incidence within the confines of the SPR office until Friday about an hour before it was due to close. As Lin left to collect Madoka from the airport, Oliver had yelled at Mai to bring him tea. She obliged, having finished her work for the day.

"Close the door." Oliver said as Mai entered with a steaming cup. She hastily put the cup on his desk and made to leave. "With you on this side of it, idiot." Mai faltered for a moment and then shut the door. Her initial thought was that she was in trouble, but she could not think of anything she had done wrong.

"Yes?" She prompted; eyes wide and still worried.

"I am meeting Yoneda-san tomorrow for dinner." He said. "Lin and Madoka are accompanying me."

"I'm glad." Mai smiled. "I'm sorry for yelling at you the other day." She blushed.

"I would like you to join us." Oliver said hesitantly, ignoring Mai's words.

"Why?" Mai asked, she blushed a deeper red.

"Yoneda-san is a complete stranger; your intuition has previously been helpful on cases. I will of course pay you overtime and for your meal. Treat it as a potential case if you want." He said flatly.

"Of course." Mai said and turned to leave.

"Mai, dress smartly. I don't want you looking out of place." Oliver said as she left. Mai looked around and saw him look pointedly at her current attire. She performed a sarcastic little curtsy.

"Yes sir!"

"I will pick you up at 6pm. Shut the door as you leave." Oliver said and Mai left, closing the door with a little more force than was perhaps necessary. It wasn't that Mai's general dress sense was bad; in fact Oliver usually felt that she dressed reasonably smartly considering how casual the office really was especially since she had taken the job full time, but the restaurant he had chosen was high end and he did not want Mai to be looked down on for what she was wearing.

Oliver sighed. Not that he would admit it, even to himself, but he hoped he had not hurt Mai's feelings. He did not like it when Mai was upset with him.

The following night, Mai stood waiting in her apartment. She was admiring her reflection in the full length mirror next to her front door. She was wearing a red dress that was perhaps a little too short and tight fitted for the office, but was otherwise smart. Matched with black patent heals that added at least six inches to her height, Mai felt like she could rule the world. There was just something about a good pair of heels and a well-fitting dress that made a girl feel powerful.

She had just finished applying her matching red lipstick when a buzzer ran through the apartment. Oliver was obviously waiting outside. Mai checked her eyeliner and mascara still looked perfect, grabbed her black jacket and headed out her front door.

Oliver was waiting outside, leant against a small black sports car. He was dressed, as usual in a black suit.

"Do you ever make any effort?" Mai teased. He did not respond, but climbed into the car. Sighing, Mai joined him. "Is this smart enough?" She asked as she closed the door.

"It'll do." Oliver said, starting the car. He did not pull away immediately, despite there being no other traffic. "I do not trust Yoneda-san. Please do not tell her anything more than necessary about me or Gene." He turned to stare at Mai.

"But she's your mother; she will want to know about these things." Mai said.

"I do not know for certain she is my mother." Oliver said. "While she does know more than I would expect, she could be anyone and until I know otherwise, I want to limit her knowledge."

"Okay." Mai said.

"Also, I do not want my parents knowing about her, or her them." Oliver said. "I do not want to upset them. I have already asked Lin and Madoka to keep their silence."

"Okay." Mai repeated.

"If you are in any doubt, don't say anything and I will answer for you." Oliver continued. Mai looked away from him, hating the look in his eyes. She thought he might be scared. "I want to interrogate her this evening and look for holes in her story."

"So why am I coming?" Mai asked exasperatedly.

"I told you in the office, because of your intuition. I want to know what you think of her." Oliver said in a bored voice. "I am paying you for your time and I don't believe you had anything better to do this evening."

"If you weren't such an arse I would have done it for free, but that would mean we were friends and we couldn't have that now could we?" Mai said sarcastically to hide her bitter feelings and stared pointedly out of the window. "And I did have other offers this evening." It was not a lie; Keiko had asked her if she wanted to go to the cinema.

Oliver ignored her and revved the engine so it purred in a satisfying way before pulling away from the parking spot. He drove in silence, annoyed by Mai's words. Ever since he had returned from England, Mai had been distant from him. He presumed because he had pointed out she had been in love with Gene and not him, as Mai had mistakenly believed. Sometimes he had regretted what he had said all those years ago; maybe if he hadn't pointed out the obvious, she would have fallen for him instead of his much more amiable – and dead – twin brother. Oh well, he thought, too late now.

When they arrived, Oliver parked and led Mai inside, stating 'SPR' as the name of the party their table was booked under. Mai knew as soon as she had taken the drinks menu that this place was far out of her price range. This was not from seeing the prices, but from the lack of them. If you have to ask the price, you cannot afford it.

She scanned the choice of drinks and felt very much like she shouldn't be there. Her invincible façade had evaporated.

"Could you recommend me something?" She asked Oliver, aware that the waiter was waiting for her decision. "I can't decide." She added, trying to sound as if she dined in places like this every day.

Oliver smirked at her and then ordered their drinks.

"Madoka and Lin will be here soon, I wanted us all to arrive before she does." He said in a low voice. Mai did not say anything, but hitched her façade back up. The evening was going to be long and painful and she was starting to wish she had not come. The cinema trip with Keiko, despite her friend's bad choice in films, honestly sounded like a better idea now. Perhaps Oliver saw something of Mai's discomfort, because he attempted to start a casual conversation.

"Do you have plans for tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yes, so you can't try and book me in for any more extra work regardless of the pay." Mai retorted. She knew she was taking her distress out on her boss, but she didn't much care at the moment.

"What are you doing?" Oliver disregarded her tone.

"Shopping with Madoka for Halloween costumes." Halloween was not that popular in Japan in the way it was in America or the UK, but in the larger cities, many people would dress up for fun. Mai had not decided what she wanted to dress up as yet, but Madoka had promised to join her in her search for the perfect costume. Madoka had also agreed to come out partying with Mai on Halloween in two weeks' time. "I suppose you disapprove of Halloween?"

Oliver did not answer. Yes, he did think the whole debacle was ridiculous, but he did not feel like telling Mai that would help anything.

"It is not something I will celebrate." He said finally, and then was pleased to see Lin and Madoka entering the restaurant. Madoka sat down next to Mai, with Lin beside her. The final place on the round table was between Oliver and Lin, as Oliver had planned. Mai and Madoka fell into an easy conversation. Oliver listened jealously as Madoka complimented Mai on her dress and then made her laugh with some anecdote. Why could he not do that?

Lin engaged him in conversation regarding the lack of potential cases, something that had irritated Oliver. He wanted a decent case to come up, something he could throw himself into and take his mind off of this birth mother business.

Yoneda-san arrived a few minutes later with a cheerful smile. They ordered food and Oliver set about questioning his supposed birth mother.

She told them of her childhood in a rural village, how she had moved to the city and worked as a maid in the embassy. Mai couldn't help but feel as if her story seemed rehearsed. Though she supposed that Yoneda-san might've have practised conversations in her head. Mai knew that she herself had run over answers to sensitive questions. A few times, Yoneda-san had asked Oliver questions which he had answered succinctly. Mai tried to remember his answers, so that if the subjects came up again, she could repeat the information that already been shared.

Yoneda-san had seemed most interested in Oliver's abilities. He had been reluctant to discuss them in such a public place, but promised that if she came to the office during the week, they could talk about them in more detail. The woman had been pleased to hear that.

Mai had been relieved that she had not been required to talk much during the evening. It was only when Yoneda-san had excused herself to take a phone call as Oliver was paying the bill that she really relaxed.

"I'm just going to go to the ladies." Mai said as she got up. When she entered the female loos, she could hear someone talking in a language that definitely wasn't Japanese. She listened for a moment, trying to guess what they were speaking. She recognised a few words of English from her lessons at school.

Just as she was going to enter a cubicle, Yoneda-san exited the only closed cubicle and stared, slightly startled, at Mai.

"Hi." Mai said awkwardly, smiling.

"Hi." Yoneda-san said, she was pocketing her phone.

"I didn't realise your English was so good!" Mai said, deciding that pretending she hadn't heard Yoneda-san's phone call was pointless.

"Oh it isn't." She replied graciously. "Do you speak English?"

"Only a few words, I hated English at school." Mai laughed. "Anyway, I need to um…" She indicated the toilet and waved goodbye to Yoneda-san, who excited the ladies.

When Mai had finished in the toilet, Yoneda-san, Madoka and Lin had already left. Oliver was waiting with a bored expression on his face.

"Sorry." Mai said quietly.

Oliver did not say anything, but led her back to his car and drove her home. When they arrived at her apartment, Mai climbed out. She was about to lean down and thank Oliver for the lift, when he exited the car too.

Slightly surprised, she watched him walk around the car. Mai walked to the apartment blocks front door and fumbled for her key out of her jacket pocket.

"Thank you for coming this evening." Oliver said, he had followed her to the door. "Did you sense anything?"

Mai thought about telling him about Yoneda-san's English conversation. She had thought it seemed a little too fluent considering her previous statements regarding her poor ability in the language. But perhaps she was just modest. Mai was reluctant to say anything bad about the woman, despite the few nagging thoughts she had.

"I am unsure." She said finally.

He nodded, and then turned to leave as Mai put her key in the door. But before Mai could close the door behind her, he had twisted back to face her.

"You look very nice tonight." He said stonily, then spun on his heel and left, car tyres screeching as he took off. Mai shook her head, slightly confused before heading up to her flat. It had been a long evening and she was very much looking forward to taking off her heels.

**Author's note: I have finally actually planned out this story and its a bummer because I want to skip to the end because its going to be so much fun to write! Shit is going to go down! Otherwise please review! I would love to hear where you think this is going!**


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Mai boarded the bus and took a seat halfway down the length of the vehicle. She was thinking over Oliver's parting words. Mai wondered if Madoka had been trying to teach him manners again, but had long ago thought she'd given up with the idea. She tried to picture him saying the words, his voice had been cold, but what had his eyes shown? Mai couldn't remember exactly. She was sure they hadn't been as cold as his voice, but they certainly hadn't been appraising either.

When she arrived at the shopping centre, Mai disembarked and headed towards the coffee shop she had agreed to meet Madoka at. She ordered herself a hot chocolate and waited in a seat by the window. She watched the passers-by and tried to guess what was happening in their lives.

Mai was just inventing a story for a middle-aged and greying man, when her phone started vibrating in her pocket. She pulled it out and read the text.

**Hi, if you are free I would love to get together later today for coffee! I want to get to know you all better! Kimi Y.**

It took Mai a minute to remember that Kimi was the first name of Yoneda-san. Before Mai could respond to the text, Madoka plonked herself down in the seat opposite.

"What is that frown for?" Madoka asked by way of a greeting. Mai handed Madoka her mobile, she watched as Madoka's eyes whizzed back and forth.

"What should I say?"

"I suppose you should say yes." Madoka was frowning now too. "How about you tell her we could meet her here at 2pm, I will stay with you."

"Would you?"

Madoka nodded and Mai replied to the text.

"Right, so costumes!" Madoka said cheerfully. "What do you want to be this year?"

"I really don't know!" Mai whined. "I won't want to be anything childish. The last few years I've done something cute. I want to be something a little more grown up."

"You want to be something sexy." Madoka said with relish and Mai laughed nervously. "Sounds like fun. Finish up that drink, let's get going!"

Madoka dragged Mai from her seat and out into the main shopping centre. Many shops had displays for Halloween and the two women rushed into the first one they saw, both giggling happily.

"Is Lin joining us this year?" Mai asked. "Ayako and Monk said they might, they should be back in Japan today." She was browsing a display of cosplay-style costumes.

"I very much doubt it." Madoka sighed. "He has this ridiculous motion that dressing up is stupid. Unless it's in the bedroom, then he's very interested." Mai laughed awkwardly, she had never quite got used to how open Madoka was about her and Lin's sex life. "We should go as a pair!"

"Oh yes!" Mai agreed. "But who…?"

It took them another two hours to settle on whom to dress up as and actually find the costumes. When finished, they had only ten minutes to get back to the coffee shop to meet Yoneda-san.

The woman was already waiting for them, sat comfortably on a squishy sofa and drinking what looked like black coffee. Mai took all their shopping bags and sat down opposite Yoneda-san while Madoka bought them drinks.

"Hi!" Mai said cheerfully. Yoneda-san smiled at her and eyed the pile of bags.

"Is that a katana?" She asked, frowning in confusion.

"Yes, it's part of my Halloween costume." Mai said happily. "It's only a wood one!" She reassured the woman.

"Who are you dressing up as?"

"It's a surprise!" Mai said secretly. She and Madoka had agreed to keep their costumes private until the night, partially because Mai did not think she would have the nerve to wear it if anyone made snide remarks about it. "Madoka and I are going as characters from the same show. It's a shame that we couldn't persuade Lin and Naru to dress up too." Mai knew exactly who she'd want Oliver to dress up as, but couldn't think who Lin would be. Madoka's choice of character did not have a canon pairing.

"Why do you call him Naru?" Yoneda-san asked, recalling Mai from her thoughts.

"Oh, it's just a nickname. Short for 'narcissist'." Mai said carefully, remembering Oliver's request that she did not impart too much information. At that moment, Madoka joined them with two steaming mugs. Mai sniffed them and took her Black Forest hot chocolate joyfully.

"Tell me how you both met my son." Yoneda-san requested, a genuine smile adorning her face. Mai and Madoka both gave brief accounts of how they met Oliver. Madoka tried to turn the talk back to Yoneda-san, but the woman kept asking questions about their personal lives and they felt rude not to give polite answers. Mai told her about her parents' deaths and how she had grown up. Madoka told Yoneda-san about her relationship with Lin and how she had taught Oliver and Gene in England.

Mai found the whole situation very uncomfortable. The conversation was forced and overly polite. Yoneda-san seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself, but Mai could tell that Madoka was also uneasy. It was only as Mai finished her drink, that she noticed Yoneda-san was wearing gloves again. The same black leather gloves as she had been when they first met. Upon further thought, Mai remembered that she had worn them the previous evening as well. She had not once taken them off, despite, in all of these situations, the room being plenty warm enough.

"So does Oliver have a love interest?" Yoneda-san asked, an unnaturally girly giggle escaping her lips. "He's a handsome boy, surely he has someone?"

"No." Mai said, trying to keep any bitter feelings out of her voice. "His nickname is for a reason you see, the only person he loves is himself."

"Oh Mai, that isn't true!" Madoka laughed. "He cares about us all, he just can't show it."

"Just keep telling yourself that Madoka." Mai laughed, trying to ignore the intense stare she was receiving from Yoneda-san.

It took the two women another hour to get rid of Yoneda-san. It wasn't that their guest was unpleasant; she just made Mai ill at ease. Mai supposed their personalities just clashed, but was nevertheless grateful to step into her own apartment and shut the door behind her.

Mai immediately slipped off her shoes and then pulled her costume out of the bags that now littered her living room floor. She tucked her hair behind her eyes and flipped the long haired wig over her head, then held the tube top and baggy trousers to her body to admire her reflection in the mirror. She was pleased with the costume she'd chosen, if slightly nervous. Mai knew she didn't quite have the cleavage to pull of any of the characters other costumes, but felt that she could probably pull this one off.

She stuffed the things back into the bags and took them through to her room. Mai was about to leave them in her wardrobe, when the pair of katanas caught her eye, she pulled them out and unsheathed the decorated wooden swords. Grinning to herself, she started prancing around her flat chopping up imaginary enemies.

Her doorbell rang, but Mai was caught up in her fantasy world of sword fights. She opened the door and lunged with the katana at the man standing outside. He parried the strike with one arm, taking Mai by surprise.

"Naru!" She said, shocked at his appearance. Mai recoiled and tried to hide the wooden swords behind her back. She felt very foolish.

"I heard you saw Yoneda-san today." He stepped inside Mai's flat and closed the door. He did not look amused by Mai's antics.

"How did you get up to my door?" Mai asked. "You need to buzz to get into the building." She threw the swords onto her bed and shut her bedroom door behind her.

"I slipped in behind someone else entering the building." Oliver said coldly. "Very poor security here."

Mai rolled her eyes.

"Yes I saw Yoneda-san." She gave him a quick run-down of how the conversation had gone. Oliver had looked up sharply at her when Mai told him how Yoneda-san had asked about his love life. "Madoka refuted the fact that you only love yourself." Mai said stonily. "She insisted that you do care for us all." Mai laughed bitterly. "Is that all?"

"No." Oliver said. Mai could see confusion in his eyes despite his blank face. "Is your intuition telling you anything yet?"

Mai's glare faltered somewhat. She still wasn't sure what to say. Oliver watched as Mai screwed her face up in discomfort.

"You don't like her." He stated.

"Our personalities clash." Mai said, not wanting to insult his mother. "And why is she always wearing gloves?" Mai voiced the question that had been nagging at her.

Oliver did not answer, but nodded at Mai's words.

"Thank you." He said finally. "Sorry for the disturbance." He made his way to the door. Mai felt even worse, she had not even offered her boss a drink. She could almost hear her mother cursing her bad manners from the grave.

"You don't have to leave, if you want a cup of tea or something?" Mai said hurriedly, trying to cover up her mistake. Oliver looked round at her, confusion still clouding his beautiful eyes.

"No I will leave, it's quite clear you don't want me here." He said coldly. Mai felt his words hit her like a sword in the gut. She knew it had been her own actions to cause them, but it still hurt. Cursing herself and the tears building in her eyes, she pressed past him and opened the door, holding her hand out to indicate the way out. He swept past her and she slammed the door behind him quickly so that he could not say anything else to wound her.

Mai pressed her back against the door and slid down it until she was hugging her knees. Tears escaped her eyes and she cursed the ache in her chest. Why did she still have to care for that jerk? Why hadn't she moved on and quit her job?

She cried noisily for some time, not knowing that just inches away, Oliver was listening. He was shocked at the reaction he'd caused. Hadn't she been sharp with him for so long now? Why was she crying?

He walked away, his head full of jumbled thoughts. He would have to deal with Mai at some point after he had sorted this birth mother business out. Oliver could find no logical fault in Yoneda-san's story. Everything fit with his memories and what he'd been told. But the fact that Mai did not like the woman told him that something was wrong. He trusted Mai's intuition more than Mai seemed too. The matter of the gloves had also caught his attention, something he would question Yoneda-san about at the most appropriate opportunity.

When Oliver finally arrived home, Lin and Madoka were watching a film together on the sofa. He nodded at their greetings and retreated to his bedroom-come-office room. Grabbing a book he fell onto his half made bed and started to read, hoping it would distract him.

**Author's note: Thank you all for reading, if anyone can guess who Mai and Madoka will be dressing up as you can have a prize! A prize of... um... 'air from my lungs' as the 9th dr wisely said. Though seriously, if you guess it right then yay! I was trying to give clues without being too obvious? It is from another anime series that I am loving atm! Please review because it makes me happy!**


	5. Chapter 5

The following morning, as Mai entered the office she saw Yoneda-san sitting on the sofa playing some form of electronic game. Mai recognised it as the same test she did years ago that acknowledged her as having some psychic ability. Oliver was standing in the doorway to his office, watching the woman.

"Taniyama-san, tea." He said when he noticed Mai had arrived. Mai noted the renewed use of her surname, but did not say anything. She dumped her bag and jacket by her desk and then went to make tea.

"Shibuya-san, your tea." Mai said as she handed her boss a cup of hot tea. She saw hurt in his eyes upon use of his fake surname, but did not feel any guilt about it. Two could play at that game.

"Finished!" Yoneda-san said cheerfully. Oliver brushed past Mai, who returned to her desk, and looked down at the display.

"265." He said. "Interesting."

"Does that mean something?"

"It means you have no latent psychic ability." Oliver said.

"Should I?"

"Well very little is known about the inheritance of psychic abilities, so not necessarily." Oliver said. Mai was silently cursing him, how could he be so polite to this woman and not her? "I would like to get a DNA test done if you don't mind."

"Of course." Yoneda-san reached up and pulled out one of her own hairs and handed it to him. Oliver took it and retreated momentarily into his office.

"It will take three weeks for the result." He said when he came back into the main office.

"Wonderful." Yoneda-san sat back on the sofa and Oliver took his usual seat in the lone armchair. "Would you tell me about your brother? Everyone else seems reluctant to discuss him and I can't help but be curious. I mean, if it is too painful, just say the word and I won't say anything more on the subject."

"He was a perfect medium." Oliver said. "That is, someone who can channel a spirit in their own language. He was everyone's favourite twin. Everybody liked Gene." There was no hint of bitterness in his voice. His speech was flat and seemingly uninterested. "He came to Japan over 4 years ago to observe Shinto exorcisms and was run over, then dumped in a lake."

Mai rolled her eyes. Trust Oliver to tell his mother how her son died in so callous a manner.

"And that's when you came to Japan?" She prompted. Mai could not see her face, but could hear her voice breaking with tears.

"Yes. I had hoped to find him in time to do an autopsy on his brain."

Yoneda-san started sobbing in earnest. Mai saw Oliver's eyes widen. He looked up at her pleadingly, but Mai played dumb and just smiled back before returning to her work. She was not going to help him out one bit. He could deal with the crying woman.

"We'd agreed years ago that whoever of us died first would arrange an autopsy to look for signs in the brain of psychic abilities." Oliver said. Mai sniggered; trust him to just keep digging. She felt his gaze on her again and knew he had heard her, but she did not care.

"Would you like some tea?" He offered. Mai supposed Yoneda-san had agreed as he then said: "Ma- Taniyama-san, tea." Mai laughed to herself and went to make tea. When she brought it out, she handed Yoneda-san a cup and then left a box of tissues on the table. Making eye contact with Oliver, Mai rolled her eyes pointedly.

Halfway through the cup of tea, Yoneda-san seemed to have regained control of herself.

"So what can you do?" She asked.

"Pyschometry; using objects belonging to people to see their past or present situations." Oliver said.

"Can you do it to me?" She asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"I suppose." Oliver reached out a hand and touched her glove. Mai looked up and noticed Lin watching too. Oliver was frowning. "There is nothing there." He said a minute later. He stood up and walked into his office. Mai could hear him pulling books off of the shelves.

"What do you mean?" Yoneda-san asked, worried.

"It's like you don't exist." He said through the door. Lin was looking concerned, which caused Mai to frown also. "Like you are a hole." Oliver exited his office and shut the door.

"Is that bad?"

"I have never encountered the phenomena before, but I suppose there was always a chance it could happen. Do not let it concern you." He smiled in what Mai supposed was a reassuring manner, but she could see the worry in his eyes. She wondered if Oliver realised how obvious his real feelings were.

"Can I come with you on a case?" Yoneda-san asked suddenly. "I would love to see you at work."

"If an appropriate case arises, I'm sure you can join us. Although you will have to sign a form to say you will keep your silence over personal things told to us by clients." Oliver said. It would not bother him if Yoneda-san simply wanted to observe.

"Wonderful." Yoneda-san said happily. "Well I better be off! I only have the morning off today. Thank you for talking to me." She stood up and bowed to Oliver, waved to Lin and Mai and left.

Oliver walked over to Mai's desk and looked down at her sternly.

"Have you told Yoneda-san about your abilities?" He asked.

"No."

"Keep it that way." He turned around and returned to his office.

It wasn't until the following Saturday that Mai finally caught up with Ayako and Monk. They arrived at her flat mid-morning, both looking tanned and happy.

"Mai!" Ayako cried as she pushed into the flat. "I have missed intelligent company!"

"Oi." Monk elbowed her out of the way and hugged Mai, who was grinning at the pair of them.

"You two had a good time then?"

"Oh Malaysia was beautiful and Cambodia was so colourful and Thailand's beaches were just stunning." Ayako reminisced.

"Food was better than her cooking too." Monk teased, taking a seat on the couch. Ayako sat on him and tried to smother him with a cushion.

"Honeymoon period over already huh?" Mai asked as she bustled around the kitchen making tea.

"I'm not sure we ever had one." Monk said, muffled by the cushion. He pushed Ayako off him and accepted a cup of tea from Mai.

"Anyway, what have we missed?" Ayako asked, taking her own cup.

"Naru's birth mother." Mai said. Monk spluttered and spilled half his tea. Ayako's mouth fell open. Mai handed Monk a towel to mop up the tea and then gave them a brief summary of what had happened over the last two weeks.

"So is it definitely his birth mother?" Monk asked.

"Well he's sent off samples for a DNA test, but the results aren't due back for another two weeks or so I think." Mai said. "But I think she is; everything she's told us fits."

"So why don't you like her?" Ayako narrowed her eyes.

"I never said that!"

"You didn't need to." Monk laughed. "Your face says it all."

"Our personalities clash." Mai said slowly, sighing at how well her friends could read her. "And the gloves."

"Gloves?"

"She's always wearing black leather gloves." Mai said.

"Maybe she has a skin condition." Ayako suggested. "Have you asked her about it?"

"It seemed a little personal to ask about it." Mai said. "What if she does have a condition and is really sensitive about it?"

"Has she asked Naru for money?" Monk asked.

"Not that I know of." Mai answered. "She seems to genuinely just want to get to know him."

"I wonder how long that will last." Ayako said. "He's a miserable git."

"Oh he's not that bad." Mai said defensively. Monk laughed.

"You could do so much better Mai." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"It's painfully clear you are still in love with that boy." Ayako said and Mai could feel a blush creeping into her cheeks.

"And I learnt long ago that nothing was going to come of it." She replied stonily. "Are you two coming to the Halloween celebrations?"

"Not sure yet." Ayako said, allowing the change of subject. "I haven't got a costume and the shops are painfully lacking in anything suitable."

"You mean anything that would make a wrinkly old hag like you look good." Monk teased, and then quickly took a gulp of tea so Ayako could not attack him.

"Besides, I might be on call." Ayako said, still glaring at her husband. "Halloween is a trouble night, so often more doctors are asked to take shifts."

"Will you come Monk?"

"Can't, I have a gig!" He said happily. "You can totally come and watch if you want, I can get you tickets?"

"I'll mention it to Madoka; I'm not sure what she has in mind."

They spent the rest of the day chatting and cooking snack food, which they ate at intervals. Ayako and Monk gave a more detailed account of their honeymoon; where they had been and what they had done. As night fell, Mai bid farewell to the couple and then got ready for bed.

Lazily, she flicked through the channels on the TV. Mai was curled under a small blanket on her sofa and wasn't really watching any of the shows.

It wasn't until she heard a voice behind her, that she realised she had fallen asleep. It was Gene.

"Hello!" She said happily. "Long time no see!"

"Well I usually don't bother if there isn't a case." He said grimly. "Why haven't you been taking any cases? My afterlife is getting boring."

"Naru isn't taking any." Mai said. "Reckons none of them are worth his time. Do you know about Yoneda-san?"

"Yes." Gene said, frowning. "I've been keeping an eye on you all and I don't trust this woman."

"Why?" Mai asked, curious.

"I can't see her." He said, looking confused.

"Naru said his psychometry didn't work on her either!" Mai pointed out. "Said she was like a hole."

"She is!" Gene agreed. "It's like, I can see everything and then there's just a gap where she is, I don't like it."

"I'll tell Naru your concerns."

"Talking of my dear brother, what is up with you two?" Gene asked. "It's been like a soap opera watching you both."

"He started it, I have been nothing but polite to him." Mai fumed. Gene rolled his eyes.

"The pair of you are hopeless."

"Then give up hoping something is going to happen." Mai said, glaring at Gene. "He doesn't like me like that."

"Hopeless." Gene sighed. "You should go and get some sleep; I will see you soon I hope."

Mai closed her eyes and woke back up on the sofa. She turned the TV off and went to bed, really wishing that Gene hadn't mentioned her feelings for her boss.

On Monday morning, Mai told Oliver about what Gene had said about Yoneda-san. He nodded at her words and dismissed her out of his office.

Oliver was concerned. Something was wrong with Yoneda-san. He had pulled in a few favours and checked out her credentials, but everything fit. She was who she said she was. But then how could she be their mother, if she seemed to not only have no psychic powers but to be completely void of them. This had led Oliver to believe everyone must have some link to psychic abilities, but only a select few had it strong enough to use. Yoneda-san seemed to have no link at all. Like a hole.

He hoped something would show up on the DNA test, but was doubtful. Perhaps his birth father had been strongly psychic; frequently, those with latent psychic powers found themselves in positions of power as they tapped into their abilities subconsciously.

Still, something was wrong.

**Author's note: I think shit will go down next chapter. I am sorry for the poor quality of the first few chapters, but things had to be done to set up the rest of the story. Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Thursday evening found Mai prancing around her bedroom in nothing but her underwear. Music was blasting out of the tiny radio on her dresser and Mai was dancing and singing loudly. She was supposed to be getting ready, but Madoka wouldn't be there for at least another half an hour, so she was taking her time.

Over the course of the next few songs, Mai pulled on the baggy flame covered trousers, red-haired wig and bandage adorned boob tube top that made up her Erza Scarlet costume. She was just applying her eyeliner when there was a buzzing sound running through the apartment. Mai ran to the door, hit the button that would allow Madoka entry and then waited for her to arrive outside her front door.

Madoka was already dressed as a Demon Mirajane when Mai opened the door.

"Wow!" Mai exclaimed. "You look amazing!"

"You should've seen Lin's face." Madoka laughed as she entered the flat. She dumped her bag on the sofa and checked herself in the mirror. "Shall I set up my bed now?"

"Oh just share my bed!" Mai said off-handedly. "It's a double." She added in explanation. Madoka nodded, picked up her bag and walked through to the room Mai was pointing to.

"I managed to persuade Oliver to let us come in late tomorrow. He wants us in before 10am, but that's better than the usual time." Madoka told Mai happily.

"How on earth did you manage that?" Mai asked incredulously.

"Promised him naked pictures of you." Madoka teased. Mai blushed furiously.

"You didn't?!" She squealed, covering her cheeks with her hands.

"I reckon if I had we could have got the whole week off!" Madoka laughed. "No, I just said I would support his decision to not return to England for Christmas or New Year's when he has the argument with his parents."

"He doesn't want to see them?"

"He doesn't like Christmas." Madoka explained. "Not without Gene anyway."

"We should get going." Mai said quickly, grabbing her wooden katanas.

"Yes! No more sad talk." Madoka agreed. "Have you got your keys? ID? Money?" Mai nodded, her trousers had a zip pocket that she had filled with essential items. "Excellent! Let's go!"

And they did, the pair of them left Mai's apartment and started walking to the celebrations. Children and adults alike could be seen dressed in fanciful costumes down every street. Mai wished she had brought a camera.

Little did the two women know that their evening would not end as well as it started.

Mai and Madoka joined the celebrations in Shibuya for a while, where a crowd of people were partying in the streets; showing off their costumes and taking pictures. Sometime later, they walked to the club that Monk was playing at and watched his band's performance. Entry had not cost them a yen as everyone in costume was admitted free in celebration of Halloween.

When the band finished, Monk met the two woman and they bought another round of drinks.

"Your costumes are fantastic!" He complimented them. "Though I am surprised you were allowed to bring in your swords!" He gestured to Mai's weapons.

"They are only wood!" She protested. "Besides, I think the bouncer was too distracted by Madoka's cleavage."

"Wouldn't you be?" Madoka said, looking pleased. Monk laughed.

"Mai's just jealous." He said, teasingly.

"Who wouldn't be?" Mai said, not annoyed in the slightest. She had long ago accepted her small breasts.

"Is there anyone else good playing tonight?" Madoka asked.

"I was planning to watch the next set." Monk indicated the next band that was setting up on the stage. "I read their song list; they are doing a few Halloween themed songs so I thought it'd be fun."

A few minutes later, the next band began playing. Mai dragged Madoka and Monk onto the dance floor and laughing, they started to dance to the music. The songs were all crowd pleasers and before long, the trio were singing along loudly with everyone else in the club.

Her last drink had gone straight to her head and thus, Mai was feeling slightly tipsy. When the set finished, they agreed to leave. Once outside the club, Mai begged Madoka and Monk to take her somewhere with chips.

"Please?" She pleaded, stumbling slightly as they walked down the street.

"There's a McDonalds around here." Monk said, moving so that he was next to Mai and ready to catch her if need be.

"I didn't realise it took so little to get you drunk Mai!" Madoka giggled.

"I am smaller than you." Mai pouted, then tripped over her own feet. Monk caught her and helped her back to her feet.

"How about a piggy back?" He offered. Mai grinned and nodded. She climbed onto his back, looking strangely childlike compared to Monk. He carried her until they reached McDonalds and then set her down before entering the joint. "Now you wanted chips?"

"Yes! And a milkshake." Mai fumbled with her pocket to find some money, but Monk pushed her hand away.

"I'll get it. Do you want anything?" He asked Madoka.

"Chips sound wonderful." Madoka said, then pulled Mai towards a booth. Monk appeared a few minutes later with a tray of food. He dished out everyone's orders and they all ate in silence.

"We should get you two home." Monk said, he had finished first. Mai found the chips had helped her sober up. "Shall I call a taxi?"

"Yes, I've got enough to cover a taxi." Mai said, pulling out her purse and counting the cash she had left.

The taxi arrived a few minutes after Mai had finished her milkshake. The two woman climbed in and waved goodbye to Monk. He was close enough to home to walk. Mai gave her address to the driver and then sank back into the seats.

"That was a fantastic evening." She smiled. "Music was good huh?"

"Perfect dancing music." Madoka agreed sleepily. "Shame Lin and Oliver hadn't joined us."

"They wouldn't have danced or joined in though." Mai pointed out. "They would have stood in a corner and complained about the noise."

"Too true." Madoka sighed. Out of the taxi window, people in half ruined costumes were walking to their homes or another party. "Shame you can only dress up like this once a year."

"Yeah, it's kinda nice pretending to be a bad-ass." Mai mused.

"Oh Mai, you can be a bad-ass any time if you want to be!"

Mai laughed as they pulled up outside her apartment. They paid the driver and thanked him before climbing out. Mai let them into the building and slowly, they dragged themselves up to her flat.

"I'm so tired." Mai yawned. She glanced at the clock on the way to her bedroom. "3am. That means 5 hours sleep right?"

"Mai, how about we just don't set an alarm?" Madoka suggested, pulling off her wig and starting to undress.

"Naru would kill us." Mai said, setting the alarm next to her bed. "I don't want to die tired."

"Yeah that would suck, for your entire afterlife you'd feel sleepy."

"Yeah and Gene would bug me no end." Mai sighed; she slipped off her trousers, wig and top so that she was just in her underwear.

"Oh it'd be nice to see Gene again." Madoka mused, looking for her pyjamas in her bag.

"I'm sure it would." A cold voice said from behind both women. Mai and Madoka spun around to see Yoneda-san standing in the bedroom doorway, pointing a gun equipped with a silencer at them.

Mai was speechless. She tried to say something but no sound escaped her lips. She suddenly felt very vulnerable, dressed in nothing but her underwear. Self-consciously, she tried to cover herself and saw Madoka reacting similarly.

"Don't bother." Yoneda-san said. "Put these on." She threw two small wooden objects with strings attached to each woman. Mai caught hers and stared at it. It was a thin wooden plaque with a weird symbol on it. "Do it. I will kill you here if need be." Mai thought she sounded almost bored.

Scared, Mai put the string over her head. The plaque rested on her chest. She could feel her own fear trembling through her body, but couldn't stop the shaking.

"Now turn around." Yoneda-san continued. Mai and Madoka complied, sharing a look as they turned. "Down on your knees." There was still no emotion in the woman's voice. Mai fell to her knees. "Hands on your head." Mai did as she was told; she could feel tears running down her face and wondered when she had started crying.

There was a crashing sound beside Mai, like a body hitting the floor. She didn't look round though. She couldn't. If she looked and saw Madoka, it would make it real. She would not look.

Then everything went black.

**Author's note: I have realised that some of are not from the UK (make that most of you) and so if any thing I write doesn't make sense because its an english english thing not an american english thing, please ask and I will try to explain? Eg. Chips are fries I believe. Well done to everyone who guessed who Mai was dressing up as, both of you got it right - yay! Please review because it makes me happy! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

On Friday morning, Oliver sat in his office staring at the clock. It was 10:30 and he was wondering if he was right to be worried that Mai and Madoka had not appeared yet. A knock on his office door broke through his thoughts.

"Come in." He said and Lin entered. He looked concerned.

"Madoka is not answering her phone." He said. "Neither is Mai."

"Have you tried her home phone?" Oliver asked, keeping his face blank.

"I have tried all possible phones several times." Lin said hurriedly.

"They are probably just asleep. Or their mobiles are on silent, or out of battery." Oliver reasoned.

"And the home phone?" Lin asked, raising an eyebrow. "I can't send my shiki to check on them, Mai's apartment is too far away."

"If they haven't contacted us by noon, we can go and investigate." Oliver said finally.

"You want to wait another hour and a half?"

"They are probably asleep Lin." Oliver rolled his eyes. "No doubt they did not get back until late."

"Monk texted just before 3am after putting them in a cab." Lin said. "But Madoka never texted saying she got back to Mai's and she promised she would."

"Why did you not tell me this before?" Oliver asked impatiently. That small piece of information changed everything. He stood up, grabbed his jacket and keys and led Lin out of the office.

They took Oliver's car and drove in silence to Mai's flat. Parking haphazardly outside the apartment block, Oliver and Lin rushed out of the car and started hitting the little button next to Mai's name on the panel by the front door.

There was no answer.

"Do you think we can get the building manager to let us in?" Lin asked.

Oliver ignored him, but placed his hand by the lock and used a small amount of PK to pick the lock. He pushed the door open and disregarded Lin's curses.

"If they are in trouble, I do not need you feinting." Lin muttered as they ran up the stairs. Oliver hammered on Mai's front door, but it fell open.

"It wasn't locked?" Lin followed Oliver inside. Nothing looked out of place. But an uneasy feeling was rising in Oliver's chest. "The bedroom?"

The two men barged into the small bedroom to find it empty.

"Where are they?" Lin asked the room at large. But two piles on the bed had caught Oliver's eye.

"What were they wearing last night?" He asked, looking at the neatly folded clothes. Lin followed his line of sight and recognised Madoka's outfit from the night before.

"That's her costume." He said pointing to the pile on the right. "What's that?" He pointed to a small piece of paper between the two piles of clothes.

_Touch these._

It was written in English in a neat script.

"Someone wants me to perform psychometry on them." Oliver said unfeelingly. "And that someone has the girls."

He moved around and sat on the bed, then touched a hand to an item in Mai's pile. Oliver felt his real body fall back and then a new sensation overcame him.

Water was being sprayed in his face, though he had no control of this new body, it shook its head and whined. His eyes opened and took in the dank surroundings. Everything was an off-white colour and cold. His body shivered.

"_Hello Oliver._" Yoneda-san's voice said from somewhere behind him. He realised he was strung up by his wrists and that he couldn't twist to see her. "_I wonder whose pile you touched. Are you in Mai's body?_" He felt a jab to his back. "_Or Madoka's?_" A squeal to his left brought his attention to a scantily clad Madoka, who was also hung up by her wrists.

"Why are you doing this?" Mai's voice escaped his lips. His head looked down at his trembling body, which was wearing nothing but underwear. He could feel her confusion.

"_I bet it was Mai's pile. Your feelings for her were written all over your face and yet the dumb idiot never realised._" Yoneda-san walked around to face to the two women.

"_Why are you doing this?_" Madoka asked in English. His head turned to look at her and he felt his face screw up into a questioning look.

"_The people who hired me want you to know why I am doing this. Several years ago, you refused to help several families find their lost ones. They banded together and hired me to destroy you slowly. I'll admit it's been a slightly different experience from the usual sniper shot assassinations, but the pay is good._" She smiled cruelly. "_In case you hadn't guessed. I am not your mother._" She pulled off the wig and picked off the latex that had moulded it to her forehead so convincingly. Her real hair was a dull brown and shoulder length. "_Just over four years ago, I ran over a young man in a red car, took his body to a local mechanics, wrapped it up in yellow polystyrene and then dumped it in a lake. And now I am going to leave these two women to freeze to death. I know how frustrated you were at the decomposition of your dear brother. I thought I'd leave these two perfectly preserved for you. I wonder, will you cut Mai's head open to inspect her brain?_" The assassin laughed again. "_Yes, I know about her abilities. And I have these wonderful charms that supress them. No astral projecting for poor little Mai._" She waved some small wooden plaques in front of the women's eyes. "_Now for the fun to begin Oliver, these two won't be the end. I will come after Lin next and then you. Or maybe I'll visit England first…_" She trailed off, the glee evident in her voice.

"Madoka? What's she saying?" Mai's voice said from his mouth. Madoka obviously ignored her though.

"_Don't you dare touch the Professor! Or Luella!_" Madoka screamed, wriggling and causing the chains holding her to tinkle.

"_As if you could stop me! You'll be dead soon._" The assassin said in a bored voice. "_Listen carefully. These two are located half an hour south of the city, in an old meat factory by the railway. Bottom floor, east wing refrigerator. _Any last words you two want him to hear?" She finished in Japanese for Mai's benefit.

"I'm sorry Oliver!" Madoka said to the room at large. Yoneda-san put a charm over Madoka's head and she disappeared from Oliver's sight.

"And you Mai? What do you want to tell him?"

"I will fucking haunt you until the day you die!" Mai yelled and squirmed in her chains.

"Feisty little beast. I bet you would have been fun to torture." She turned the temperature dial down and then moved closer to Mai. "_See you soon Oliver!_" He saw her place the charm over Mai's head and then everything went black.

He opened his eyes and found himself back in Mai's apartment. His breathing heavy, he tried to stand.

"Oliver, slow down! You will only feint if you push yourself." Lin said, pushing him back onto the bed.

"Get me to the car now, we have to go now!" Oliver shouted. Lin took one look at the fear across Oliver's face and then turned picked him up in an awkward fireman's lift. "You will have to drive, I will explain on the way."

"Where are we going?" Lin said, hurrying down the stairs.

"She has Mai and Madoka, they are in an industrial refrigerator and if we don't get there…" He couldn't finish the sentence.

Lin set him down by the car and he climbed clumsily in, still feeling weak. He forced himself to pull out his smart phone and started searching for the location described by that woman.

"Head south." He ordered as Lin started up the car. "I will find the precise location."

It took him 15 minutes to find the factory, he set his phone to give direction to Lin and then used Lin's phone to call an ambulance to the location.

"We have to get there faster." Oliver said impatiently as he hung up on the emergency services. "They've been there so long!"

Lin responded by pressing his foot down on the accelerator. He ran two red lights and ignored the angry horns of the other road users. Oliver had recovered from using his power long before they arrived and was having a hard time controlling his emotions. Mai couldn't die.

He remembered how cold she had felt, how numb her feet had been and how sore her wrists had felt.

And Madoka, Madoka couldn't die either. He couldn't lose his mentor and his… assistant in one go. Pain was wracking through his chest at the thought. This one woman had been the cause of so much pain.

Oliver gave a more detailed account of what he had seen to Lin.

"That's why she wore gloves." He said once finished. "To prevent leaving fingerprints."

They arrived five minutes later. Oliver tore out of the car, Lin hot on his heels, and he stormed into the building. He followed the instructions that Yoneda-san had given him and found a row of refrigerators.

"Open them." He shouted at Lin, as he started to pull open the first door.

"They're here!" Lin shouted after opening the second to last door. He had rushed inside and lowered the chains holding the two women. Oliver could hear sirens in the distance. "We have to get them out to the ambulance!"

Oliver nodded and went to pick up Mai; she was freezing cold and unresponsive. He threw his coat around her and carefully picked her up.

"Mai?" He said forcefully. "Can you hear me?"

Lin was shouting similar things at Madoka as they carried the women out.

"Mai! Please, just react if you can hear me!" He begged desperately.

"Oliver, they are suffering from severe hypothermia, assuming they are still alive." Lin said in a calm, authoritative voice. "Once we are out of this building, we need to wrap them in as much clothing as possible and then share body warmth with them until the ambulance crew takes over."

"Alright." Oliver said, glad that Lin had obviously had some first aid training.

The sirens were louder once the two men were in the open air again. Oliver followed Lin's instructions and retrieved a blanket from the boot of his car. He felt a weak pulse at Mai's throat and a small bubble of hope rose inside him.

"Mai, I know you are alive." He said, talking to her helped. He wrapped her in the blanket, his coat and then he took off his socks and put those over her feet, which were purple with cold. "Mai, wake up and shout at me. Shout at me for taking so long. Call me a jerk for being an idiot and not telling you how I felt." He squeezed her closer to him; he could see the ambulances now. "Help is here, Mai. You're going to be fine, okay?" He kissed the top of her blanket-covered head. "I love you Mai." He whispered, a tear running down his face.

A paramedic ran over and assessed the situation. Another appeared and they prized Mai out of Oliver's arms. Others were taking Madoka and placing her in the ambulance, covered in space blankets.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to let go." One of the paramedics was talking to Oliver, who had not let Mai go. He stared up at the man and let go. They whisked Mai away and the ambulance took off in a whirl of sirens and noise.

"Oliver, we should follow them to the hospital." Lin said, he was looking morose. "Their situation isn't good."

"She had a pulse!" Oliver shouted. "She was alive! She will make it!" He stormed to his car and climbed into the driver's seat. Lin took the passenger seat and Oliver drove off.

The hospital was painfully far away and they lost the ambulance at a set of lights.

"I'm sorry for snapping." Oliver said, while they waited for the lights to change.

"I understand, I am worried too." Lin replied calmly.

When they arrived at the hospital, no one would tell them anything. A nurse had led them to a waiting room and told them that once the doctor's knew something definite that they would be informed.

They sat in the waiting room for an hour, neither saying anything, before Oliver's stomach rumbled noisily.

"Go and get us some food." Lin said. "I don't think we will hear anything anytime soon. Hypothermia takes time to fix." He added reassuringly.

Oliver nodded and left the waiting room in search of food. A small convenience store was hidden within the depths of the hospital. He bought sandwiches and some fruit from the store, and two teas out of a vending machine. When he returned to the waiting room, he saw a man in a white coat talking to Lin.

"Are you a relative of Mori-san or Taniyama-san?" The doctor was asking as Oliver caught up with them.

"No, they have no relatives." Lin said with a lump in his throat.

"I am their boss." Oliver said forcefully. "How are they?"

"Perhaps you should sit down." The doctor said, but neither Oliver nor Lin responded. "They did not make it. Mori-san and Taniyama-san are dead."

**Author's note: Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Oliver dropped the food and cups of tea and they crashed to the floor in a mess. Lin sank into a chair and put his head into his hands.

"No." Oliver said, refusing to believe it. He ran out of the waiting room and down the corridor, looking in every window for Mai and Madoka. They would be waiting for him, sat in bed happy and laughing. They weren't dead. They couldn't be dead.

"Sir, you can't be in here." A nurse said when he crashed into a room. There were two beds, both with body-shaped lumps covered in white sheets. Oliver stopped suddenly upon seeing them. "Sir, I'm really going to have to ask you to leave." The nurse repeated.

The doctor appeared behind him and tried to lead him away. Oliver could hear him speaking words of comfort, but none of them seemed to translate to any meaning in his head.

"Oliver Davis?" A deep voice said, and his name penetrated through his grief. He spun around to face a well-built man in a grey suit. "You need to come with me." Two other men in suits appeared behind him like bodyguards. Oliver nodded and then led him back down the corridor. He assumed they were the police, though was confused how they knew his real name. Legally he had his name changed to Kazuya Shibuya in Japan as he planned to stay there long term and it really would make for less complications.

Lin appeared out of the waiting room when Oliver and the men passed.

"Perhaps you ought to join us too Koujo Lin." The man said. Lin made eye contact with Oliver, who nodded reassuringly. Oliver could see that Lin had hastily wiped his tears away before exiting the waiting room as his eyes were blotchy and red.

The men led them to a black SUV; they climbed in and drove off.

"Where are you taking us?" Oliver asked.

"To a secure location." The man said. His bodyguards remained silent.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Hashimoto." He said. "I am with the MOD." The ministry of defence. Oliver did not react, but he felt Lin fidget beside him.

"Calm down Lin-san." The man said looking sad. "I'm not going to torture you."

Lin did not seem reassured.

"Why do you want to speak to us?"

"It is with regards to Kimi Yoneda as I believe you know her. I will explain further when we arrive."

"Are they really dead?" Oliver asked. "Or have you taken them into protective custody?"

It was his last hope. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Lin had looked up at his words; the possibility obviously hadn't occurred to him.

"I am afraid that they are dead." Hashimoto said. Oliver searched his eyes for any trace of a lie, but there was nothing. He felt a dull weight drop inside his chest. They were gone.

When they arrived at a non-descript building, Oliver and Lin were led inside to what looked like an interrogation room. A mirror ran along one side of the room and in the middle sat a table with a few chairs.

"Please sit." Hashimoto gestured.

"Is this an interrogation?" Lin asked.

"No." Oliver replied. "They would have split us up if it had been an interrogation." The two men sat on one side of the table, facing the mirror.

"I want to apologise first." Hashimoto began. "Had we contacted you sooner, we might have been able to spare the lives of your colleagues. Kimi Yoneda, A.K.A Ornella Capitani was born in Italy, although is obviously of Japanese descent. She is an independent assassin whom we have been tracking for many years. When we first saw her make contact with you, we believed you to be either a client or associate. I investigated SPR. Checked you out with the British and Chinese embassies, they believed you to not be a threat, but I was not sure." Hashimoto paused for a moment. "I even sent you a case, to see if you would take the bait, but you rejected it."

"I am good at weeding out fakes." Oliver said calmly.

"I investigated further and found out about your abilities." Hashimoto said. "I found a certain video deemed as proof of them."

"Did you know she killed Gene? And where his body was?" Lin asked coldly.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Lin asked angrily. Oliver shook his head.

"Informing the police or the family would let Yoneda know how much they knew about her." He said. "They knew she was the bigger problem than one family's loss."

Lin looked away in disgust.

"Quite right Davis-san." Hashimoto agreed. "It wasn't until today, when she targeted your employees that we realised you were her target."

"I have been her target since Gene's death." Oliver said. He told Hashimoto of what Yoneda had told him. He could see the man's disbelief at his abilities, but ignored it; he had no time for other people's inadequacies.

"I see." Hashimoto said when Oliver had finished. "Then I suggest we put you on a security detail."

"Don't bother." Oliver said, rolling his eyes. "I will deal with her next time she appears." He would blast her to smithereens.

"And the safety of your other employees? Lin-san here for example?" Hashimoto said, nodding towards Lin as he spoke.

"Would only bring her awareness of how important they supposedly are to me." Oliver said coldly. "Although if you could contact MI5 and arrange security for my parents, that would be appreciated. I can keep Lin safe. Hara-san has her own security for work purposes. Brown-san is out of the country. Takigawa-san and his wife are only just back from their honeymoon, she knows nothing of how I feel with regards to them. Taniyama-san and Madoka-san were targeted because she thought I cared for them."

"I see." Hashimoto said, surprised by the indifferent tone. "And you will take responsibility for their deaths if anything happens?"

"Isn't it my fault anyway?" Oliver asked coldly. "What will happen to me when I kill this woman?"

"You sound certain you will."

"Not all of us are so inadequate at our jobs."

"And yet you took a whole year to find your brother." Hashimoto retorted.

"I had no knowledge of Japan or its geography, I ran a full time business and all I had to go on was a picture in my head of what the area looked like." Oliver responded unconcernedly. "What will happen to me when I kill her?"

"Nothing. Officially she doesn't exist so you can't officially have killed her."

"Excellent, may we leave?"

"In a moment, I want you to take my number down. I would give you my card but given your supposed abilities and the things I know, perhaps that isn't the best idea."

Oliver smirked and took out his phone. Hashimoto reeled off a number.

"Call that number if you need me." He said. "I believe the hospital will get in contact with you regarding the funeral. Taniyama-san had you down as her next of kin. Mori-san also had the business as her relevant contact."

Oliver and Lin were shown from the building and driven back to the hospital, where they retrieved Oliver's car and drove home.

Neither of them spoke until they were in the apartment.

"I'm going for a shower." Lin said. He felt grimy and wanted nothing more than to sleep, so he could wake up and find Madoka there, grinning beside him.

Oliver did nothing to stop him, and retreated into his own room.

When Lin came out of the shower, dressed in baggy clothes, he found Oliver setting up cameras around the apartment.

"What are you doing?" Fighting the ridiculous urge to laugh.

"The last thing she said was that she would haunt that woman. But she wouldn't do that without calling me a jerk first." Oliver said as he hooked up the monitors. "I am not missing her contact me."

"Noll, she will have moved on. Mai knows that hanging around is dangerous, they both would've gone on." His voice cracked.

"NO!" Oliver shouted at Lin. "She wouldn't! Not yet. She hasn't told me I'm a jerk in a week. She will turn up and shout at me and then she'll apologise for getting herself into a situation she had no control over and then… And then…" Oliver sank to the floor, tears running down his face. Lin sat down beside him and put his arm around the younger man.

"She's gone, Noll." Lin said quietly, tears streaming down his face. "They are both gone, but they are safe now. Hopefully, they took Gene with them."

They sat like that for some time, exactly how long neither of them knew, before Lin suggested food. Oliver, who had been starving only a few hours before, did not feel like eating. But agreed just so they had something to do.

The following day, a liaison between the hospital and the funeral home called Oliver and asked about what arrangements were to be made. Oliver agreed to things without really listening.

He then begun phoning Masako, John, Ayako and Monk and informed them of what had happened. Afterwards, he realised he possibly should have asked Lin to do it, as he knew he sounded incredibly cold towards these people and their loss. These people, his only friends, who were now in danger because of him. Their loss, his loss, which had occurred because of him.

Oliver hadn't taken down the cameras, just in case. He hoped Mai would appear just to say goodbye. Lin also, did not object. Oliver knew that he too hoped Madoka would appear. Though they both knew, deep down, that it would not happen, they had suffered enough and the tiny ray of hope was all they had.

The funeral took place a week later, on a beautiful crisp day. Masako had rearranged her schedule for it. John had flown over from Australia and Ayako and Monk had taken days off work.

Nothing much was said at the funeral or at the office afterwards, where Lin had invited everyone for tea. It was only when everyone had arrived that they realised Mai would not be there to make it.

Oliver could not get the image of Mai in her coffin out of his head. The funeral home had done a wonderful job; she looked as beautiful as ever and so peaceful. As if she had just fallen asleep while on a case. He had wanted to shake her and make her wake up. He had wanted to shout at her to stop pretending.

But he had just stood there staring. Staring as they lowered her into the ground beside Madoka. Beside the woman who had taken care of him and taught him so much. How could both of them be gone? Possibly the two most important women in his life had been taken away from him.

A small part of him was disgusted at himself. He had not reacted like this when Gene had died. He had not been so distraught when his own brother had been taken from him. Taken by that woman. Oliver knew he had to only wait for her to appear again. Without a doubt Lin would be next of her hit list, his other teacher and possibly best friend. Oliver wasn't sure how to categorise his relationship with Lin. Technically, he was still employed by Oliver's father to watch over him, but surely it was more than that now? He hoped they were friends by now.

Internally, Oliver cursed. When had he ever wanted friends? He'd always had Gene. But Gene was gone. In Japan, he had had the SPR gang, even when some of them had moved on, he had had Mai and Madoka and Lin.

Except everyone was leaving him. They were dead or moved on to other things. Only Lin was left and for how long? When would he too be taken from him? Or worse, leave of his own accord? Oliver would not blame him. Lin's life was at stake, and Oliver had caused the death of the woman he had loved.

In the days following the funeral, Oliver wandered the streets of the city alone; hoping that Yoneda would finish him off with a bullet to the head. Lin had not left the flat. He thought he was going crazy, he kept seeing Mai everywhere. Other woman would merge into Mai and stare at him with angry accusatory faces.

When he finally returned to the flat, Lin was sat under a blanket staring at the TV. Oliver knew he was watching a show that was – used to be – Madoka's favourite. He couldn't bear it. Oliver ran into his room, crashed onto his bed and lay there; silent tears running down his face.

**Author's note: So my inner George R.R Martin appeared last chapter. This chapter made me cry though while writing it... Poor Oliver, I want to hug him. Please review! **


	9. Chapter 9

A week after the funeral, Oliver and Lin returned to work and tried to drown themselves in paperwork. As if somehow, catching up on their missed work would make everything better.

A few days after returning to work, Oliver received a phone call from Mai's landlord.

"I have you down as the next point of contact Shibuya-san?" The man was saying. "Could you arrange for her things to be removed before the end of the month?"

"Of course." Oliver hung up. He hated how indifferent the man had sounded to Mai's death. Standing up, Oliver left his office and informed Lin of the situation. "I will be needing the van this evening, would you assist me in emptying it before you leave?"

"Noll, I will come with you to collect her things." Lin replied. Oliver nodded, then returned to his office. He wanted a cup of tea, but somehow he knew that it wouldn't taste right.

That evening, the two men returned to Mai's apartment. It was just as they had left it all those weeks ago. The two piles of clothes lay undisturbed on Mai's bed. They had come prepared with boxes to pack everything away. One for clothes, one for shoes, one for books, one for kitchen things and so on.

Oliver planned on donating most of it to charity shops. Lin had dealt with the gone off food in the fridge and had taken Madoka's clothes and belongings that she'd left here to take home with him. Oliver had collected up all Mai's photographs and put them in a separate box for things he wished to keep.

Only as he was going through the drawers beside her bed did he find her key. The key that had been her parents, the lucky charm that she'd left at home so it wouldn't get lost. He placed that inside the keep box. Underneath where the key had been, was a small leather bound book. He flicked it open to reveal Mai's diary. He decided to keep that too.

"Everything is in the van now; it's too late to donate anything now so I suggest we take it in the morning." Lin said from the doorway. Oliver nodded and picked up his keep box. The apartment looked bare now and a new wave of pain overcame him. The place had gone from being so typically Mai, to a shell.

That evening, Oliver retrieved the diary from the box and left it by his bed. Then he neatly stacked the photos and put them in a drawer, so they were safe. He added the key to his own key ring.

A feeling of guilt was riding up inside him. He had no right to read Mai's diary, but the curiosity was overwhelming. What if she'd written about him?

Tentatively he opened the cover and sat on his bed. He cursed as he noticed that she had used kanji that were beyond his limited knowledge. Leaving the diary on his bed, he excited his room in search of Lin.

"Do you have a kanji dictionary?" Oliver asked forcefully. Lin, who was cooking, nodded.

"My room, top shelf." He said. Oliver did not thank him, but went to retrieve the dictionary.

Once he had it, he returned to his room, shut the door and started translating the stupid symbols.

Lin finished cooking their dinner twenty minutes later and called Oliver to join him. However Oliver did not make an appearance. Lin knocked on his door and stuck his head through to see Oliver doing the most unlikely thing: laughing.

The young man looked up and saw Lin's shock.

"What are you doing?" Lin asked, slightly concerned.

"This is Mai's diary." Oliver explained. "She thought you were sweet." He laughed. "That it was adorable how much you cared for Madoka. Listen to this." He began reading out a passage. "**Lin spent the whole morning staring at Madoka today. He got away with it because Naru was being an arse in his office and Madoka didn't even notice him doing it. At least, I don't think she did. He only stopped looking at her with that cute caring expression when Naru shouted for tea. Trust the idiot to ruin such a sweet moment.**"

"I remember that day." Lin said, entering the room and sitting on the end of Oliver's bed. "It was the day after our anniversary." He smiled at the memory. Oliver flicked ahead a few pages.

"**Monk proposed to Ayako last night. She came in and told us all about it before Naru shooed us out of the office because 'it's not a coffee shop'. I'm so glad it finally happened! I hope I can be a bridesmaid. Maybe if Naru comes and I pretend to be drunk he'll dance with me at the after party out of pity. Gene doesn't think this plan would work but I can dream. Imagine Naru drunk. I can't.**" Oliver read out. "She talked to Gene so often." He said sadly. Lin shook his head at the young man, how could that be all he took from the text written in front of his eyes.

"She loved you." Lin said quietly. Oliver looked up at him, but did not say anything and gave no hint of a response in his facial expression. "And you loved her." It was not a question. "Why did you never get together?" He asked finally. Oliver had never told Lin about what had happened at the lake, but there was no point hiding it now.

"Just before we found Gene, when they all discovered who I was, she told me she liked me as more than just friends. I had just discovered that Gene had been acting as her spirit guide and so told her that it was Gene she loved." Oliver said sadly. "Girls always picked him over me."

"You're an idiot." Lin said.

"An idiot scientist." Oliver agreed.

"Come and eat." Lin ordered. Oliver took note of what page he was on, and left the room with Lin.

He spent the rest of the evening reading through Mai's diary with the help of the kanji dictionary, though the more he read, the more he recognised the stupid symbols without having to check their meaning.

He found himself laughing and crying in equal measure while reading the little book. Laughing at how wonderfully Mai this little book was and crying that this was all he had left of her.

Later passages caused him real pain.

**He called me by my surname again. Two days ago he complimented me on my appearance and now he's acting as if I am a stranger. What did I do? I'll admit to being a little bitter towards him, but it's hard. It hurts to love someone for so long and get nothing in return. Why can't I just give up?**

Oliver fell asleep, still dressed in his day clothes, sickened – and yet comforted – in the knowledge that Mai had died loving him.

November rolled into December and the phone calls regarding his plans for Christmas and New Year's Eve were called into question. Oliver thought bitterly how he had allowed Madoka and Mai a few hours off in promise of support of him staying in Japan. If only he had not agreed. They would have found them earlier.

"_Mother I am staying here. Lin wants to stay and given the circumstances, I think it's for the best._" He said down the phone on one cold morning. "_I know you just want what's best and this is it._" He hung up, knowing that he was hurting his mother. But he could not leave Lin alone. The woman said she would return for him. Oliver found himself checking rooftops and windows for signs of the assassin or a sniper, even though he did not think that she would use such an impersonal weapon. Her aim was to hurt him; she would make it as personal as possible.

In mid-December, Oliver finally asked Lin a question that had been bothering him.

"How do you classify our relationship?" He posed the question early Sunday morning in the office. They had not taken a weekend off since they had returned to work. Lin was making coffee, Oliver had removed all the tea, and paused in stirring his cup.

"You are my boss and your father employs me to watch over you." Lin said carefully, trying to ascertain what Oliver was getting at.

"So purely professional?"

"No. I will admit that your wellbeing genuinely concerns me." Lin said.

"Would you say we are friends?"

"I believe that's the word generally used to describe people that care about each other."

Oliver nodded and returned to his office. At least he had a friend. One real friend.

She appeared on Christmas day. The two men had both gone to the office as if it was any other day, though Oliver had a vague plan of visiting Mai and Madoka's graves later. It would be the first time since the funeral.

The shops were all still open, despite the festivities. So Lin went out to buy more coffee. Oliver had allowed him to leave alone against his better judgement. But the shop was only just around the corner, nothing bad could happen in such a short space of time, could it?

A tinkle of a bell warned him of someone entering the office. Oliver knew it couldn't be Lin, he'd only just left, was it a client? It took him a moment to realise that no one else would greet a guest. There was no one left to greet them, except him.

"Hello?" A female voice called out, it sounded heavily accented, but Oliver couldn't place it. He stood up and made for his office door. But it opened before he could reach it.

Yoneda-san stood there, a grin across her face and a gun pointing at his head.

**Author's note: I think there will only be two chapters left. Please review :) **


	10. Chapter 10

"What have you done to Lin?" Oliver asked, cold fury infecting his voice.

"Nothing at all. Someone has to find your body." She said, smirking. But her smile faltered at the sight of Oliver. He was glowing. "What are you doing?"

"Did you not hear about my PK?" He asked, laughing evilly as the power built within his body.

"You can't! Not since I killed your brother!" She sounded scared now. "Not without hurting yourself."

"And you foolishly assume I have much to live for." He watched as she begun to back away out of the office.

He followed her, snarling as the power continued to grow. Yoneda pulled the trigger, but he deflected the bullet easily and laughed.

"You can't escape now." He said, using his PK to take hold of her clothes so she couldn't move. The gun flew out of her hand and crashed into the wall.

"No!" She screamed in terror. "Please no! I beg you!" She was shrieking so loudly he could hear her over the crackling of his own power.

"You picked the wrong target." Oliver hissed. Then released his all of his power at her.

As soon as it left his body, he felt weak. His body was not responding. His vision went fuzzy. The last thing he saw was Yoneda standing gaping downwards and the bit of wall he could see through what had been her stomach.

Hashimoto led Lin through the building. Lin had no idea what was going on. One moment, he had been buying coffee and the next he had been shoved roughly into a van. When the van had stopped, Hashimoto had opened the door and apologised.

"We had to get you out of there." He had said.

The room that Lin was led too looked very like the one that he and Oliver had been taken to previously.

"Davis-san has been taken to hospital." Hashimoto said as he sat down.

"Why?" Lin demanded, fear flooding through him.

"His heart stopped. They were attempting to revive him when we collected you."

"Is he…?" Lin could not finish the question.

"I don't know." Hashimoto replied, honestly.

"What happened?"

Hashimoto took a file out of his briefcase and pulled out some pictures. Lin looked at them. He saw Yoneda's body; a gaping hole the size of a basketball in her stomach. He understood at once. Oliver had used his PK on her, that's why his heart had stopped.

"I see." Lin said.

"I had people watching your office; they were the ones who called the ambulance. The flight arrives in about ten hours. They will be leaving Australia any time now." Hashimoto said.

Lin looked up and frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

Hashimoto pulled out a phone and dialled a number. Then he held the phone out for Lin to take.

Lin reached out and seized the phone; he held it to his ear.

"Hello?" And a tear ran down his face.

Oliver opened his eyes. He did not know where he was. Everything was black and yet somehow he could see himself. He sat up, not knowing exactly what was supporting his weight.

In front of him, was his reflection. Oliver reached up and brushed the hair out of his eyes. This reflection copied him. Why was there a mirror? Then his reflection grinned in a way he never would.

"You're such an idiot." His reflection said.

"Gene?" Oliver asked in disbelief.

"Do you know how much I have missed pretending to be your mirror?" Gene was laughing with tears in his eyes.

"Am I dead?" Oliver asked. Gene sighed, his brother hadn't changed.

"Right now?" Gene asked. "Yes. But you'll be fine, don't worry."

"You're dead Oliver, but you'll be fine." Oliver said sarcastically.

"They'll drag you back to the world of the living soon." Gene said, rolling his eyes.

"Did they move on Gene?" Oliver asked.

"The bitch that killed me did."

"What about Mai? And Madoka?" Oliver asked desperately. He had to know that they were safe. "And why haven't you gone on?"

"Because it's not my time." Gene said, smiling sadly.

"Stop avoiding the question Gene."

Then a pain wracked through Oliver's body, a shock so electric it burned.

"They are taking you back." Gene said sadly. He knelt forward and pulled his brother into a tight embrace. "I miss you, you idiot scientist." He whispered into Oliver's ear.

The pain coursed through Oliver's body again and he grimaced.

"Tell me they are safe!" He begged through his pain.

"Don't screw this up Noll."

And then Gene was floating away from him.

"No!" Oliver yelled, reaching out for his brother. But he couldn't get to him and the pain kept shocking through him.

He had a brief glimpse of a bright white light, paramedics and the inside of the ambulance and then everything went black.

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

When Oliver woke, he did not open his eyes. He was warm and comfortable, bar the heavy sensation on his right leg. But he could ignore that. He knew he was in hospital and that he had survived.

Beep

Beep

All he felt was disappointment. He did not want to be alive. He wanted Gene and Mai and Madoka and they weren't in the land of the living.

Beep

Beep

Beep

Beep

Who knew hospital machines could be so annoying? Oliver opened his eyes; he would have to in order to find a nurse to shut the noise off.

Beep

Beep

His eyes adjusted to the light and he examined the room. It was a single room, with a good view of the city. The weight on his leg shifted slightly and he looked down at it. It was a girl. Or maybe a young woman. Oliver could not tell as her brown hair was covering her face. He reached out and swept the long hair off her face.

He froze.

She opened an eye, saw him looking and closed it again.

"I know I am adorable, but you don't have to stare Naru." She muttered.

"Why are you asleep on me?" Oliver asked, still in shock.

"Australia is a nine hour flight away; you'd be jet-legged. You better hope I stay asleep, Gene told me you read my diary."

"But you're dead." Oliver said dumbly. The young woman sighed, sat up and shuffled forwards so she was facing him. She took his hand in her own and held it to her chest.

"Feels like a heartbeat to me." She said.

"But how? I buried you." Oliver said angrily, snatching his hand back. "I saw your body."

"Yeah I saw it too, do you know how long I had to sit there while they made a double? It's seriously dull." She complained, then sighed at the look on Oliver's face. "Hashimoto knew we wouldn't be safe while Yoneda was still at large. We were flown out to Australia in a top secret plane. We stayed with John for a bit, he was sworn to secrecy of course."

Oliver was speechless. How could she be here? Was this a dream? Was this the effects of drugs in his system?

"Mai…" He whispered, trying not to let any tears escape his eyes.

"Madoka and Lin went to get food." She gestured to the door. "So until they get back, you can explain why you thought you could read my diary?" Mai was glaring furiously at him. It couldn't be real. How could she be here and pouting at him? It had to be a dream. Oliver subtly pinched himself; it hurt.

"Your landlord told me to move your stuff, it was technically mine. So I could read it if I wanted to."

"Yeah I heard you chucked all my stuff out." Mai crossed her arms, huffing. Oliver couldn't help but chuckle. It was Mai. The Mai he knew and loved and…

Loved.

"Was everything written in your diary true?" Oliver asked.

"No, I lie to my own diary." Mai rolled her eyes.

"Good. Mai, tea." He smirked. Mai slipped off the bed and stumbled slightly.

"Whoever knew toes were so much use?" She muttered and walked over to the kettle on the side table by the door. Although she didn't look around, she knew Oliver was frowning at her.

"Explain." Oliver ordered; his voice low.

"Frostbite does nasty things." Mai said, fiddling with tea bags and cups. "I lost a few toes."

Oliver cursed under his breath. Then reminded himself that a few toes was a lot better than her being dead.

"What about Madoka?"

"She lost a few too, but she's managed to adapt a lot quicker."

"Well you struggled fully intact, idiot."

"What does that make you?" Mai said, still not looking round.

"What?"

"Gene keeps an eye on everyone, you know that right? That's how he told me about the diary. But that wasn't all he told me." There was relish for the power she held in her voice.

Mai turned around with the cup of tea in her hands. Oliver was staring blankly at her. She rolled her eyes.

"I know all about the cameras you set up. About the conversation you had with Lin. About exactly how you grieved." Mai said, Oliver could see the pain this had caused her written all over her face. "I'm sorry for what you had to go through." She perched on the side of his bed and handed him the cup. He took it, still blank-faced. She stared pointedly at him. "Well?"

Oliver took a sip of tea, the first he had had in almost two months. It was bliss. True, it was crappy hospital tea. But Mai had made it. He breathed in the vapours and smiled.

"I love you Mai." He said, staring into her eyes.

"Well I was going for a 'thank you' but I suppose that will do." She grinned at him. He rolled his eyes and she laughed. He placed the cup down on the bedside table and pulled Mai into a tight embrace. Only now did he let the tears of joy escape his eyes as he buried his face into her hair.

And he was never going to let her go again.

**Author's note: And that is the end. I was gonna drag that out into two chapters, but you can have it in one. I hope this somewhat makes up for anyone I made cry? Please review!**


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